Mothmas
by Pandax-Pro
Summary: Christmas themed side-story to Moth!proper. Hope you enjoy :D


Mothmas

Steve hung the last stocking over the fireplace and stepped back to appreciate the view. Each stocking had the maker's individual influence, from Steve's own artistic flow, to Tony's more strategically placed use of glitter. The Avengers' personalities really showed through the decorations, all the way down to the ones that Moth and Danni had made together just a few hours before.

Steve couldn't help but smile. With the gentle glow of the fire from the hearth beginning to warm up the living room everything just felt _right_.

He was actually pretty excited about Christmas time. He'd always been dazzled by the holidays in general… the coming together, the camaraderie. It was something that he reveled in. And now, having a child allowed him to make a much bigger deal out of the festivities without as many odd looks.

If anyone thought that he was being a tad overzealous, they'd just chalk it up to the fact that he had a five-year-old. Steve rather liked that. He hoped that his child would continue to love the holiday season as much as he did so that he could "be a tad overzealous" for the rest of his life.

The rustling of tree ornaments and a soft swear from a familiar voice brought Steve back from his daydream.

He looked across the room to Tony, who seemed to be struggling with the Christmas lights Jarvis had set out for them. The lights had already been set on the tree, but he seemed to be going through each bulb individually, looking for something.

"They not working?" Steve asked, walking over to his side.

Tony stood back from the tree; there were pine needles in his hair. "You would think… with all the great innovations that people have made over the past hundred years, a string of lights that doesn't turn into a glass infested jump rope when one of the bulbs burns out would have been invented." Tony replied sourly.

Steve frowned. "That _has_ been invented."

Tony regarded the other man reservedly, a slight look of defeat on his face. "Yeah I know… this strand is just really old. I don't feel like throwing it away if I can find the one to replace."

Steve tilted his head slightly in surprise. "You don't feel like upgrading something?" Steve put his hands on both of Tony's shoulders. "You feeling okay?"

"Funny." Tony replied, shrugging the other man off. "This box was from the Mansion. There wasn't much left in it."

Steve hummed knowingly as he walked over to a tub of popcorn and a bowl of cranberries he'd left by the fireplace. "Worry about it later. The lights aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah." Tony said, but he stuck his head back in the tree to keep looking.

Steve shook his head and smiled as he remembered Christmases back over in the Mansion. They were action-packed, as any other day of being an Avenger inevitably was, but they were full of a kind of joy and cheer that had been missing for a while there when they had tried to celebrate the holidays in Avengers Tower.

He was glad that it had become an unspoken rule over the past couple of years that he and Tony's _somehow-not-so-secret_ hideaway was used by the Avengers each winter season.

Steve picked up the tub and bowl and journeyed back over to the tree.

"I thought we were letting the kids do that." Tony commented, noticing the popcorn and taking a piece. He popped it into his mouth.

"Plain." Tony said, remorsefully.

"It's supposed to be for decoration. Who puts buttery popcorn on a tree?" Steve retorted, placing the tub down on the couch next to the tree and putting the bowl of cranberries on a table a little farther away.

"And it was going to be for the kids until I remembered that you string popcorn up by using needles." Steve said, taking the string he'd previously placed on top of the cranberries. He fished out a needle that had fallen to the bottom of the bowl.

"So I figured _we_ could do this, and then they can string it up on the tree. And finish putting the ornaments on too." Steve added, pointing to the bottom of the tree. Steve had already decorated where he knew little hands wouldn't be able to reach, but the rest of the fur pine was noticeably bare.

Tony began to grin, then his face grew serious very quickly.

"Ornaments." Tony mocked. "With the sharp metal fish hooks on them?"

"I replaced the hooks with plastic clips." Steve said, immediately. He then bit his tongue to keep from retorting on all of the "excessive" things Tony did to ensure their child's safety.

Tony looked over to the remainder of the ornaments resting in a box on the floor and made a clicking sound in the back of his throat.

"Huh… so you did." He replied, almost approvingly. Tony ate another piece of popcorn and sat down on the floor next to the tree and put a hand out to Steve. Steve handed him a needle and string, and a mixture of popcorn and cranberries before sitting down next to him with his own set of supplies.

"So, when do you think they'll get back?" Tony asked, beginning to skewer the edible décor in various patterns.

Luke, Jessica, Danni, Peter, MJ and Moth were all out caroling at the insistence of Danni who had seen people doing it on T.V.

Luke had tried to convince her that no one caroled anymore, but Danni had gotten Moth on her side… and after that, the only thing left to do was bundle up as best they could for the cold weather and head out.

"They haven't been gone for that long. But don't worry; they have to be back for dinner."

Jarvis was currently in the kitchen finishing up what was certain to be a fantastic meal. That was one of the wonderful things about the holidays, the marvelous food that always seemed to come out just right.

Well… except for Moth's _first_ Christmas… but Wolverine wasn't allowed near the kitchen during the holiday season anymore, let alone allowed to baby-sit Moth for extended periods of time.

Not after he'd somehow gotten in charge of both Moth and Danni at the same time and had retaliated by stuffing the holiday turkey with less then hygienic things—namely Moth. Moth, who had snuggled up happily and was asleep by the time Wolverine had handed the turkey baby over to a slightly horrified Tony and had told him that he needed to 'put this in the oven on high for forty minutes.'

A lot of bathes were needed.

Steve heard Tony curse to himself and saw the man stick his index finger quickly into his mouth.

Steve tried his best not to grin. "Another reason to do this while the kids are away, huh Tony?"

Tony ignored him and continued with another piece of popcorn.

It was only a week until Christmas and the party was tomorrow night but it was just living together and having the team truly feel like a _family_ again that was the greatest present Steve could have asked for.

As Steve turned back to stringing up another cranberry, he let his mind wander to everything that had happened in this house this winter season.

For one, it was a great feeling to know that one of the Avengers had been responsible for placing nametags on each of the doors. Steve was certain it hadn't been Tony, so it was just nice to know that the other Avengers felt at home enough to do things that showed such permanence.

Even the newest member of the Young Avengers (much to Franklin's relief -- despite his doing double duty being on both the YA and on Powerpack—he despised being the newest member of any team) had a nametag for her door.

Steve would love to see the look on her face when she saw the nameplate. The teen was quite a bit like her father while retaining all the fiery passion of her mother. Steve was glad to have her as a new member of his family, no matter to how _she_ reacted to the notion at times.

Steve looked back over to the fireplace. He'd have to make sure she made a stocking he thought fleetingly, as he continued to string more popcorn.

Times were good. Steve always tried to appreciate whenever times were good.

------

Steve and Tony sat on the floor, their backs up against the couch by the tree. Having finished stringing up the popcorn and cranberries they left their strands in a pile on the floor for the kids to find.

Steve flexed his arm slightly, trying to ignore the tingly feeling he was starting to get due to Tony's head leaning on his shoulder.

Tony's eyes were closed but Steve knew he was awake. Steve knew this by the low hum that emanated from the other man every once in a while.

Steve heard another purr come from the man and tried to figure out what song Tony was humming to himself. He was safe in guessing that it was a Christmas song, but Tony was only uttering bits of it, perfectly content to play the rest of the song silently in his head.

Oh well... it made guessing all the more fun.

Steve went to stroke the hair on Tony's chin with his thumb, when the other man's eyes opened lazily.

"What song is that?" Steve asked him softly.

Tony closed his eyes again. The stereo system in the center of the entertainment center turned on and Bing Crosby's _White Christmas_ flowed smoothly from the set.

"This one."

Steve stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned his head back against the couch. He shut his eyes as well. "This is a good one."

"Hmm." Tony responded.

Steve went along with the words of the song, letting the heat from the fireplace burn away any pent up emotion.

Steve only opened his eyes again when he noticed that Tony was no longer leaning against him. Tony now sat next to the box of decorations they were saving for the children to put on the tree. He was smiling at the ornament in his hands.

Steve leaned forward to see.

It was a popsicle-stick framed photo of Moth screaming and crying on Santa's lap. It had been the first time ever with Jolly Old Saint Nick, and Moth had wanted nothing to do with him.

Tony put it aside to take out another one. This was a photo of both Danni and Moth at a charity event one summer.

"One of my favorites." Steve told Tony.

Tony nodded vehemently. "It's great. I'm glad Peter turned his lens our way."

Then Tony got his businessman face on. "The Avengers have never had as much positive publicity then that generated by Peter Parker's talented photography. Not to mention the number of media threats we've dodged by having him hold an exclusive contract with us."

Steve grinned, thinking he'd heard Tony say something like that to a magazine once. Steve knew that the media adored the idea of following the family lives of celebrities. There was a certain sort of romanticism in being the children of heroes.

Steve also knew that Peter worried that his closeness revealed his identity too prominently, but it was a pretty good cover and it helped him feel like he was a productive member of the group. Though Steve couldn't imagine why he'd ever feel any different…

"That boy really hates relying on others for much. I'm glad we found a happy middle ground." Steve responded.

Tony nodded again, but before they could continue their conversation, the sound of children's feet and a rush of cold air from the outside world greeted them.

Tony put the decorations back into the box and Steve could see him smile deeply as their child came into view.

"Poppa! Daddy!" Moth exclaimed. The little one leapt into Tony's arms knocking him back against the wooden floor. Tony lifted Moth up and laughed as dark blond hair whipped about.

Sitting back up, Moth in his arms, Tony smiled as Moth looked back to Danni. Danni had stopped to examine her stocking upon the mantle. "We had fun right Danni? We sang and Uncle Peter kept my hands warm. See?"

Moth lifted up hands that had very clearly been webbed in the shape of mittens.

"What happened to your gloves?" Tony asked, incredulously.

"Sweet Christmas… don't ask." Luke Cage responded as he came into the room. He knelt down before his daughter to unravel her from her winter clothes.

Steve began to do the same for Moth, who was still seated in Tony's lap.

"How did it go?" Tony asked the room at large.

"Decidedly uneventful for one of _our_ outings." Jessica responded, heartily.

Peter laughed at that, but neither Steve or Tony questioned him about it.

Finally, when the children were back to just wearing their jeans and t-shirts, Steve stood up with a bound. "Ready to finish up the tree?" He asked the two children before him.

"Yes!" Peter answered, excitedly.

Tony looked away from Moth and raised an eyebrow at him. Steve merely smiled back in return.

"Right. Kids." Peter said, slightly disappointed.

MJ comforted her husband with a hug. "You can decorate the little tree we have in our room." She offered sweetly. "Come on, Tiger. We can do it now."

"So what songs did you sing?" Steve asked, turning back to Moth as MJ led Peter away. He dragged the box full of child-safe ornaments out into the middle of the living room floor.

"Lots an' lots." Moth grinned back at him, clambering off of Tony's lap.

"Four." Jessica said, crumbling a piece of popcorn off of a strand near the tree and eating it. Steve looked at her disapprovingly. "We just sang them again and again." She continued.

"Which one was your favorite?" Steve asked, as Tony offered his child an ornament from the box.

"Jingle bells!" Moth answered, before carefully taking the ornament and walking over to the tree.

"I like that one too." Steve admitted. He turned to Danni. "What about you? Which one was your favorite?"

"Rudolph." Danni said, peering inside the box of decorations.

"Great song." Tony said. "But I can never remember all of the reindeer's names." He admitted, as he began to wrap a string of popcorn around a heavily giggling Moth. "What are they again?"

----------

It was getting close to the time when they would have to make the children go to bed.

If they wanted any hope of happy and cheerful kids at tomorrow night's Holiday party, both would have to get a good night's sleep.

Both Danni and Moth sat cuddled together on the left side of the couch as the Disney animated version of _A Christmas Carol_ played merrily on the television set.

To the best of Steve's knowledge, Luke and Jessica were currently in the kitchen sipping on coffee.

And Hank and Jan had made it to the house just after dinner had started, and Jan now sat on the loveseat nearest the fireplace. Hank, on the other hand, was over with Tony by the tree. They had been trying to figure out which bulb had burnt out on the string of lights.

Steve had a feeling that that wasn't all that Tony and Hank were carrying on about, as he'd seen Tony looking over a device that looked suspiciously like the remote-controlled mistletoe that had been explicitly banned from ever making an appearance at another Holiday party.

Steve hadn't made up his mind on whether or not he was going to say something to Tony about it…

Regardless of alleged illegal contraband, they still hadn't been able to find the broken light… but it wasn't as if they were fixed for time. The fireplace gave off plenty of light and the tree still had the electro-filament that Tony had designed to make the whole thing glow. The lights were just an added bonus. Everything didn't have to be perfect.

Steve would settle for some semblance of sane.

Steve leaned back and grinned as Hank went off to join Jan in the loveseat, and Tony joined him on the right side of the couch. Steve wrapped his arms around him.

Tomorrow was going to be fun, even if Steve didn't get to play Santa this year.

Steve had been Santa for the past two years and tomorrow that coveted position was going to Luke. It was going to Luke, as the rest of the Avengers had forced Steve to be democratic it. He just hoped that Moth didn't ask for a pony or a full size monster truck. He was almost certain Luke would say yes…

But that was tomorrow. He'd worry about it then.

Steve held Tony tighter in his arms and looked over at their child.

Christmas might not be for another week, but Steve didn't care.

He had everything he needed already.

-------------

hope you all enjoyed. sorry for the delay in moth!proper- we should be updating that story march 3rd if everything goes according to plan :D


End file.
